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Give Graphic Design as a Gift this Holiday

The holiday shopping season is upon us. When considering your options for that perfect gift, take a moment and consider giving a graphic design based product as a gift. While nearly every gift you give will have been touched by a graphic designer at some time in it’s production, the following products are graphic design as products onto themselves. They’re not just for designer’s either. There’s some great stuff out there for everyone.

Adleta Perpetual Calendar
Designed by Don Adleta, (full disclosure: he was my professor at Ohio University) this calendar’s unique design has sold out at MoMa and there are only a few left from a store in Athens, Ohio. The calendar features a spinning disc that reveals the correct days as you spin it each month. It really is genius! I have one on my desk and love it.
$75.00

Death and Taxes 2009
While not the most cheerful gift it is fascinating to see where your tax dollars go at a quick glance. Never before has such a complicated taxation system been broken down to be so simply understood in graphic form.
$29.75

ThreadlessThreadless is an ongoing T-shirt competition. The winners are printed. Plenty of great designs to choose from.
$15 (for most shirts)

Go Media Vector Packs
If you know someone who loves to mess with Photoshop, Illustrator, or any image making software then these vector packs are a perfect gift. They put the power of making cool trendy images in the hands of just about anyone. Plus GoMedia is a hometown Cleveland company so I have to show some love!
$34.99

The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher
This is the best coffee book table ever. Alan Fletcher never saw the world quite like anyone else. Think of this as an elaborate sketchbook that’s been crafted into a final product and a window into a new world of thinking about things in a way you may never have thought of before but can never go back when you’re done.
$39.95

Gelaskins
Gelaskins are by far the coolest looking protective covers for your technology. They’ve got skins for iPods, phones, macs, and pc laptops. Sam Brown of Exploding Dog shown here is one of my favorites. Be sure to look through their extensive line-up as they have some of the best artists working today and some classics too. You can even download a wallpaper for the screen to match.
$29.95 (for a 15″ MacBook Pro)

The Nightly News, by Jonathan Hickman
It’s a ground breaking graphic novel because of it’s visual style. For years I wondered why more comics weren’t using graphic design principals in their pages layouts and then along comes Hickman who knocks it out of the park. Besides the design literate art it’s also an entertaining story and a great gift idea for anyone weary of the media.
$16.99

eBoy Poster
eBoy does some awesome pixelated posters (as well as t-shirts, books, and toys). The Tokyo poster shown here is one of many different cities available. Also check out Berlin, London, New York, LA, and Baltimore.
20 Euro

Ha! Perfect example of graphic design as product. Without graphic design it’s just a couple plastic bags in a box. According to their website it is “the ultimate gift for cosmopolitan dog lovers.”
12.90 Euro

Know of any other really cool graphic design products that would make great gifts?

This is a very cool apparel line I found, they are called Verde Styles and they plant a tree for every shirt they sell. I found out these guys through our school, they hold recycling drives and stuff. It’s very neat, so you guys should show them some love! they are givin’ away free t-shirts to the first person to order from their state!

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Welcome to The Kurtz Graphic Design Co. (KGDco) website and blog. Here we post links to things we find interesting, inspiring quotes, and, occasionally, an in-depth look at issues facing the graphic design community. Thanks for visiting. While you're here, why not check out our portfolio, read what our clients have to say, or learn more about us. Cheers!

Testimonials

James is enthusiastic, friendly, and fast! He manages multiple projects with ease and helps distill direction from different managers into a cohesive product that gets the point across with style–then delivers on time.

Testimonials

James is enthusiastic, friendly, and fast! He manages multiple projects with ease and helps distill direction from different managers into a cohesive product that gets the point across with style–then delivers on time.